In addition to recording his albums, Yankovic has written and starred in his own film, UHF, and his own television show, The Weird Al Show, and directed music videos for himself and other artists including Ben Folds, Hanson, the Black Crowes and The Presidents of the United States of America. He has also made guest appearances on many television shows, in addition to starring in his own Al TV specials.
Though parodies earned him his fame, Yankovic has recorded a greater number of humorous songs with original tunes. Some of these pieces are pastiches (or style parodies), where he chooses a band's entire body of work to emulate rather than any single hit, although Yankovic has many completely original pieces. Most of his albums include a medley which juxtaposes the choruses of various songs in a polka style to accordion music.
Due to his popularity, he has been credited with several songs that are not actually his. A full list of every song he has ever actually done, including the live-only songs, can be found at the Al Songs website. Similarly, a comprehensive list of songs incorrectly credited to him can be found at The Not Al Page.
In 2006, Al recorded the song "You're Pitiful". However, while James Blunt gave his blessing for the parody of his song, "You're Beautiful", Blunt's label Atlantic Records was opposed to it. Though parodies are protected legally, the issue had become "more of a political matter than a legal matter", according to Al, so he decided to not put the song on his next album. Instead, he offered it as a free download from his site.
His latest album, "Straight Outta Lynwood", was released September 26th, 2006. Its first released single, "Don't Download This Song", was made available as a free download on August 21, 2006. The animated video for the track and a link to downloadable MP3 is available at dontdownloadthissong.com. Among other tracks, the album includes parodies of Green Day, Usher, R. Kelly, and Chamillionaire. Chamillionaire's "Ridin' Dirty" is parodied as "White and Nerdy", the second released single from the new album. This single has thus far climbed as far as #9 on the Billboard Singles chart, eclipsing "Eat It" as Al's highest charting single (which went as high as #12).
Official Website: http://www.weirdal.com
FactBox Info
Members
Al Yankovic
Jon ''Bermuda'' Schwartz
Steve Jay
Jim West
Rubén Valtierra
Former Members
Rick Derringer
Ross Noble
Joe Earley
Captain Underpants Theme Song
"Weird Al" Yankovic Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Those evil villains got ya filled with gloom?
But don't ya fear, there's a hero in the sky!
The sky! The sky!
It's not a bird, or it's not plane
And it's not an egg salad sandwich!
It's the waistband warrior, hear his mighty battle cry!
Hey watch crime!
Its wedgie power time!
Na na na na na
Captain Underpants
Yeah yeah yeah
He's busting down doors
While wearing just his drawers
Na na na na na
Captain Underpants
Yeah yeah yeah
His name is, Under Under Underpants
I'm saying Under Under Underpants
Oh by some unlikely chance
Captain Underpants is his name!
TRA-LA-LA!
Snap your fingers and he'll be right there
That freaky bald dude is his underwear
He'll drop his trousers
And he'll fight to save the day! The day! The day!
There he goes in his dashing cape
Here he comes in his tighty whiteys
All the bad guys soil themselves every time they hear him say,
TRA-LA-LA!
Hey, who's that hunk?
In that cotten pre-shrunk?
Na na na na na
Captain Underpants
Yeah yeah yeah
Suspend your disbeliefs
He'll save the world in his briefs
Na na na na na
Captain Underpants
Yeah yeah yeah
Under Under Underpants
I'm saying Under Under Underpants
Check out that superhero stance
Captain underpants is his name
Oh, Under Under Underpants
He's Captain
Under Under Underpants
By some crazy circumstance
Captain Underpants is his name
TRA-LA-LA!
The Captain Underpants Theme Song is a parody of superhero themes that emphasizes the humor-filled, self-deprecating tone of Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants series. The theme song is narrated by the band and describes the waistband warrior's strengths and weaknesses. The song aims to be silly and child-friendly, which is once again emphasized with its TRA-LA-LA chorus.
The opening stanza of the song immediately states that it's "not a bird, or it's not plane / And it's not an egg salad sandwich!" and highlights the absurdity of Captain Underpants as a superhero who wears nothing but underwear. It also reassures the listener that if they're worried about impending doom, then there's a hero in the sky who has got their back. The following stanzas continue the silliness and add phrases that make readers chuckle like "That freaky bald dude is his underwear" and "Suspend your disbeliefs / He'll save the world in his briefs." The song is easily memorable and leaves its TRA-LA-LA chorus in the listener's mind for quite a while. It is a simple, straightforward theme song for a superhero with light-hearted action-comedy and plenty of underpants jokes.
Line by Line Meaning
Are you worried about impending doom?
Are you afraid that something bad is going to happen soon?
Those evil villains got ya filled with gloom?
Are you upset and scared because of the bad guys?
But don't ya fear, there's a hero in the sky!
Don't worry, there's a hero up high in the sky.
The sky! The sky!
He's up in the sky, you know.
It's not a bird, or it's not plane
He's not a bird or a plane or anything else like that.
And it's not an egg salad sandwich!
He's definitely not an egg salad sandwich, that's for sure!
It's the waistband warrior, hear his mighty battle cry!
It's the hero with a waistband for his costume, and he's shouting loudly!
TRA-LA-LA!
He's yelling out his battle cry!
Hey watch crime!
Look out for bad guys doing bad things!
Its wedgie power time!
It's time to use the wedgie as a weapon against the villains!
Na na na na na
He's singing a catchy tune.
Captain Underpants
That's our hero's name!
Yeah yeah yeah
He's awesome, no doubt about it!
He's busting down doors
He's breaking through doors with his super strength!
While wearing just his drawers
He's only wearing his underwear.
His name is, Under Under Underpants
His name is Under Under Underpants.
I'm saying Under Under Underpants
I really mean it, his name is Under Under Underpants.
Oh by some unlikely chance
By some strange coincidence,
Captain Underpants is his name!
That's the name of our hero!
Snap your fingers and he'll be right there
If you snap your fingers, he'll come to your aid quickly.
That freaky bald dude is his underwear
The bald man is actually Captain Underpants' underwear,
He'll drop his trousers
He'll take off his pants.
And he'll fight to save the day! The day! The day!
And he'll use all his might to save the day, no matter what!
There he goes in his dashing cape
Now he's off, wearing his cool cape.
Here he comes in his tighty whiteys
He's approaching now in his white underwear.
All the bad guys soil themselves every time they hear him say,
The villains get scared and lose control when he shouts out,
Hey, who's that hunk?
Who's that attractive and powerful figure?
In that cotten pre-shrunk?
Wearing that pre-shrunk cotton outfit?
Suspend your disbeliefs
Forget what you think you know and just go along with it.
He'll save the world in his briefs
He's going to save the whole world while only wearing his underwear.
Under Under Underpants
That's his name again.
Check out that superhero stance
Watch him stand there like a true superhero, ready to take on anything.
By some crazy circumstance
By some wild coincidence,
Captain Underpants is his name
He's still called Captain Underpants, even though it's kinda funny.
TRA-LA-LA!
And he's still yelling out his battle cry!
Writer(s): Peer Astrom, Alfred Yankovic, Adam Anders, Theodore Michael Shapiro
Contributed by Josiah H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.